krystalicia_'s reviews
185 reviews

Very funny how I went from being understanding of Narumi to not being able to stand her, but I’ll just chalk it up to a well written character. I actually really enjoyed this volume, especially that it finally called out how inappropriate it is for students and teachers to be even perceived as too close and Murao finally wised up to her putting herself and Mr. Tanaka I’m danger. HOWEVER, I am dropping this down to 3 starts because there was this one line in there that made me want to forgot a character existed. 

This volume was a full on emotional rollercoaster. Like it really is just so absolutely devastating that this is how Kou’s brain works. We’re introduced to Narumi who has gone through very similar familial problems as Kou, but in her case, she was abandoned and I think even without that being a factor, I’d still feel terrible. Do I agree with any of the decisions she’s made? No, but I also can see why she said the things she said and acted the way she did because at this point, she feels she only has Kou as a support. Grief is a bitch and can make you do ugly things. I just hope Kou stops shouldering all of it on his own and for once does what he wants to do.

I am feeling allllll the emotions right now. This volume is angsty as hell and I’m living for it. We formally meet the additional “love interests” for our main characters and honestly, I kind of love Toma. He’s such a little dork and I love it, but he also wears his heart on his sleeve. If I wasn’t already so invested in the slow burn of Kou and Futaba, I would honestly be so ok with him and Futaba being endgame. Also, Kominato is best boy, but y’all knew this.

Ray is honestly too OP and I’m not even mad at it. He’s a morally gray character done well and I can’t wait to see him continue to develop throughout the series. Also, I continue to forgot how dark this story actually is. Like these kids are 12 and under and they things they’re experiencing is actually horrifying.

We’re making progress! Futaba has finally acknowledged her feelings and Kou is still being a brat!! You’re getting glimpses into Kou’s past and I’m pretty sure we get more in depth in the next volume, but you can already tell when is trying his absolute best to not care about anything and failing miserably. We also see Futaba and Yuri’s friendship tested but strengthened due to Futaba being honest about her feelings and honestly, I love seeing girls not letting guys come between them. Knocking down a star because it has a trope I hate but overall, still solid.

This volume had no business making me as emotional as it did.

This was so much more unsettling than I remember the anime being. Like when I saw this was classified as horror, I was thinking “yea I’m sure it is for kids”, but no, even at 28 some of the panels were creepy as hell. The first volume is usually foundational and this was no different. We get introduced to our main group of kiddos: Emma, Norman, and Ray; as well as our villians: Mom and the demons the kids are all signed up to be fed to. The anime remains pretty true to this volume, so none of this information was really new to me, but excited to keep reading because I know it will start getting more intense as the kids start to prepare for their escape.

This was so cute and wholesome. One thing about anime/manga: I love a good training camp/team bonding arc and this volume didn’t disappoint. You get a glimpse into the core 5 characters of the story as they attend a leadership retreat and have to work together so they can lead their class, but also their high schoolers so you know there’s a ton of angst. A couple of things:
1) I am patiently waiting for Kou and Futaba to get their lives together and just admit that they have feelings for each other, but also completely understand why they’re holding back. There’s this whole level of we’re not who we used to be so it won’t work and fronting galore.
2) we get a full glimpse at Murao’s crush on Mr. Tanaka and because there was only one season of the show, we didn’t really get to see that he resolved. As of now, it is coming off as high school crush on teacher and teacher trying to be supportive while setting boundaries and I really hope it continues that way because if it does develop into something romantic, I’d have to DNF and that would be heartbreaking.

Loved the anime and already loving the manga series. This volume follows the initial meeting and reunification of Futaba and Kou who had to move away due to unknown family reasons at the moment and seems to have changed a lot since the last time Futaba saw him. We get a glimpse of how catty people can be in high school, seeing how Futaba feels like she needs to act effeminate so that she doesn’t get attention from her male classmates and becomes more likeable to the other girls in her grade, but when Kou comes back, who now goes by Mabuchi instead of Tanaka like she knew him as, she realizes that she was changing herself for all the wrong reasons. Loved the brief intro we get to all of the characters, especially my favorite little ball of sunshine Kominato. Loved this and can’t wait to keep reading.

Oof, this book had a lot of emotions. Really at the core of it, it was a book about grief, loss, and the need to be understood. This book follows Heera/Dia through her life as teenager/early adult and her relationship to the Grimaldi siblings, Marie and Marco/Crash. It was interesting seeing their interactions and how she was able to be her true and authentic self, and how her parents interpreted that relationship, especially as she got older and her relationship with Marco/Crash changed and flowed over time. 

There was a lot of cultural context that I won’t ever understand from the Indian/Indian-American standpoint, but could definitely understand from the child of immigrants standpoint. For example, Heera did have an arranged marriage and since I’ve personally heard both the pros and cons of this, it didn’t really impact my view of the story. What I did find incredibly fascinating was how relationships had changed with her parents as she now had to abide by the rules of her in-laws who were very concerned about outside perceptions. It was beautiful to see Heera eventually take her life into her own hands, with her parents eventual support, and live her life how she wanted to with the people she wanted to.

I’m not a fan of second person perspective writing so I will admit that at some points, it took me a bit out of the story, but it never really took away from the story. It was a super easy read and easy to get lost in.